Transit advocates argue that the public increasingly values the ability to get around without a car. They offer as evidence the nation’s urban shift and the movement to concentrate new development around transit hubs.

“People want to work and live along transit lines,” said Michael Melaniphy, president and chief executive of the public transportation association. “Businesses, universities and housing are all moving along those corridors.”

The best part of all this is that as ridership increases, more, better and cleaner transportation options should increase too. In my neck of the woods, plans are finally moving forward with a Chapel Hill-Durham light rail link, and the rise of car sharing is making car ownership optional for many. And then there's the steady spread of electrified, zero-emission buses to look forward to also.

We may indeed be living in a golden age of public transit. And it's about time.